Talons of Darkness
by darkflamethedragondame
Summary: Sparrow is getting bored of constantly doing the same old thing, he is starting to think that it will always be this way, and that the world will never accept him, but when the queen of the shadow dragons asks him to take up a job that involves traveling to the fire kingdom, he can't be more excited. A/N this is my first story so please be nice. Also, the rating might change.
1. Chapter 1, Sparrow

**Talons of darkness**

Chapter 1

Sparrow

Sparrow sighed as he stared out the large window on the west wall of his bedroom, staring at the beautiful sunset, a mix of red, gold, orange and pink, starting at the line of forest to the north, stretching out to the southern fields that could just barely be seen over the walls of the kingdom.

He watched as servants walked and flew in the streets below, carrying bowls of fruit, platters of meat and bread, pitchers of water and buckets of fish. There was a clattering sound as two of the savants collided sending fruit and venison everywhere. They both stood and looked around, clearly disorientated, before they locked eyes and started growling at each other. a guard stepped away from her post to separate them, and several of the sounding bystanders helped pick up the food that was rolling everywhere.

Just then the quartz door of his room burst open and his older sister, Razorclaw, came hurtling inside, flapping her wings as though she was flying.

Razorclaw was a pretty dragon with sparkling black scales as dark as the midnight sky, a long, elegant snout, huge wings doted on the underside with pale blue scales, blood red underscales, curving red horns that where just a few shades darker than her underscales, pale gold eyes with little flecks of darker gold in them, a blood red ruff, and gleaming black claws that looked like they had been carved out of black diamonds.

Sparrow himself had scales blacker than the night sky during a thunderstorm, dark, dark, red underscales, an elegant snout, much like Razorclaw's, huge black wings with sparkling silver scales scattered around the underside, lightly curved horns like his sister's, only his where the same dark red as his underscales with vanes of sparkling silver twisting around them. His curved claws where a glittering silver, he had a dark red ruff shot through with silver, and glowing red eyes with flecks of silver.

"Razorclaw," Sparrow said, turning from the window to look at her. "Why are running around like a human with its head bitten off?"

"Oh! I didn't expect to see you awake!" Razorclaw said, coming to a quick stop.

"Well, it is sunset," Sparrow said, turning back to the window. "And we are nocturnal dragons."

"I know, I know," Razorclaw said in her usual hurried voice. "It's just… lately you've been in a pattern of staying of for nights at a time and then crashing like a dragon with its wings shredded."

"Yeah, I guess that is a fair point," Sparrow said with a sigh. "Anyway, why are you here? Not that I don't love seeing you."

"Oh! Um, yes. I came here for a reason, now what was it?" she muttered to herself.

She paced around in a circle for a moment with one of her claws tapping against her snout. "Ahh! Yes!" she said, coming to a halt. "Queen Silence said that she wants to see you."

"Why?" Sparrow asked.

"I don't know, she didn't say," Razorclaw said.

"Oh, wonderful," Sparrow said, stepping away from the window. "You can go now."

"Okay, just be there as soon as you're presentable," Razorclaw said, turning and walking out the door, shutting it behind her.

Sparrow sighed as he walked toward a sparkling pool of water. He had learned that if the queen wanted to talk to him it would be best if he showed up with clean scales that sparkled in the light. He hissed as his sensitive scales made contact with the icy cold liquid.

 _What could the queen possibly be summoning me for_ Sparrow thought. _I mean, I haven't done anything wrong lately, unless you count putting a little nightshade in Shadowteeth's food._ It hadn't been enough to kill her, nightshade never was, but it did make her sick for a couple of days. _Or it could have been the whole 'accidently splashing water on the scrolls' incident._ Sparrow had to sit through a two-hour lecture on being careful whilst handling scrolls. _Maybe it's because I walked through Mightyscale's garden again, but I don't think anyone saw that._ Mightyscale was the tribe's main herbalist and her garden produced most of the herbs that were used in the healing center.

 _Or maybe I'm not in trouble and she just wants to chat, maybe she just wants to say happy hatching day,_ he thought as he climbed out of the freezing water. The queen sometimes did that for important dragons. _Ha, that's about as likely as Razorclaw getting rid of her 'precious' feather collection._

Sparrow sighed as he walked along the long winding halls of the highest palace in the kingdom, nodding at some of the high ranking aristocrats.

He paused as he neared then throne room, wondering if he should really be responding to the summon or if he should be flying away as fast as he could, screaming in terror.

Just as he was about to turn and walk away he heard a rushed voice shout his name. he looked up to see Darkspark -one of the queen's main advisers- standing in the center of the hall.

"Sparrow, Queen Silence told me to escort you to the throne room," Darkspark said. "You know, make sure you actually get there,"

"Oh, I'm glad she has so much faith in me," Sparrow said in a sarcastic voice.

"Well, her actions are rather justified, I mean, you have been known for skipping important meetings," Darkspark said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a screw-up," Sparrow said with a sigh.

"You're not a screw-up, you just need to learn more responsibility," Darkspark said.

"I am a screw-up and I always have been, that, at least, was clear since the day I hatched," Sparrow said.

"Why must you be so hard on yourself?" Darkspark said, shaking her head.

"Oh, I don't have to, but I want to," Sparrow said.

If Darkspark wanted to say something she didn't. they turned a final corner and got to the long corridor line with sculptures and tapestries of wolves, bears, humans, owls, and various famous dragons. At the end of the hallway there was a large double door with serious looking guards holding spears on either side of it.

"Well I guess you can go ahead without me," Darkspark said. She turned and walk away, heading to one of the many balconies used for taking to the air.

Sparrow took a deep breath and then started walking down the hall toward the door. He paused at the halfway point to look at a new tapestry of a dragon killing a human. The human's face was the perfect image of terror, and the dragons was a mix of fury and anguish. It looked as though the scene had been frozen in time, an exact picture of what the earth used to be like before dragons had united and formed the various kingdoms and tribes. Who ever made it was obviously a very talented artist.

He continued his walking till he got to the door where he was stopped by the guards.

"State your name and business!" the guard on then left said, pointing his spear at Sparrow.

"My name? Sparrow, And my business? Responding to a summon from the queen. Honestly do you guys have to do this every time? You know my name and you know the only reasons I go to the throne room is to talk to Razorclaw or respond to a summon by the queen," Sparrow said with a huff of annoyance.

"Sorry Sparrow, but its protocol, you know that," the right guard said, dipping her head in an apologetic way. "Anyway go right ahead."

"Thank you," Sparrow said while pushing the door open.

Sparrow felt around 20 pairs of eyes go to him as he stepped into the throne room. Sparrow cringed as he walked forward towards the queen, he hated it when a lot of dragons payed attention to him.

Sparrow bowed before the queen as she laid her cold silver-green eyes on him. The throne room lapsed into a tense silence as the queen regarded Sparrow with a cool interest.

"Sparrow," Queen Silence said. "You may stand."

"Thank you, your majesty," Sparrow said, coming out of the bow.

"Now, now sparrow, such formalities are not necessary right now," Queen Silence said.

"Yes, mother" Sparrow said, dipping his head in a respectful manner.

"Now, as much as this has been a lovely little catch up session, I need to talk to you about something," Queen silence said.

"And what would that be?" Sparrow asked.

"That would be a matter of politics," Queen Silence said. "You see, one of our diplomats has… unfortunately passed, and we need a replacement."

"Okay, what does that have to do with me?" Sparrow asked, though he had a good idea of what his mother was going to say next.

"You see, I want you to be the replacement," Queen Silence said, her mouth twitching up in the corners to form a slight smile.

"with all due respect mother," Sparrow said. "Why?"

"Because it will give you a chance to redeem yourself," Queen Silence said. "Sparrow, I know you're talented, after all, you're the one who stopped those two wings from having a mini war in the courtyard last week. And you stopped those two dragonets from fighting." She leaned down so the she was eye level with Sparrow. "Sparrow, you're a peace keeper, I know you don't like it when dragon fight, which is what makes you perfect for this position."

She straightened back up into a sitting position. "You will meet me in the courtyard at midnight tomorrow so that I can give you details on the job," she said.

"Okay," Sparrow said.

"You may leave now," Queen Silence said in a soft voice.

"Yes, mother," Sparrow said turning around.

"Oh, and one last thing," Queen Silence said.

"Yes?" Sparrow asked, turning his head.

"Happy hatching day, son," Queen Silence said, a warm smile on her face.

Sparrow turned and left without another word, looking like he was going to cry, and knowing that this was the happiest he had been in a long time.

 _So you did remember… Thank you,_ he thought.

 **A/N I have a couple of things to say, first: I hope that everyone likes this. Second: I will be updating this fairly infrequently, so I'm sorry about that. Third: I'm sorry about any spelling or punctuation mistakes and it would be greatly appreciated if you could point them out in a friendly manner so that I could fix them.**


	2. Chapter 2, Sparrow

Chapter 2

Sparrow

That day as Sparrow slept he dreamed about what it would be like traveling to the new kingdom. In the dream he was flying high in the sky, diving in and out of clouds as his guards watched with disappointed expressions.

 _Ha,_ he thought in the dream. _Even when I'm dreaming I'm a disappointment._ he had trained himself at a young age to recognize when he was dreaming and it had often proved very useful when his sleeping mind started plaguing him with nightmares.

 _Well, I guess it's no surprise,_ he thought. _I mean, I've been a disappointment since the day I hatched, with my scrawny build and inability to keep my snout shut in tense moments._ He was always second best, second best to his sister who would one day be queen and had always been pure gold to the entire Shadowwing tribe, second best to all the students in his few classes at actual school, and second best to every dragon in the army, always second best never more, he would never mean anything to anyone.

He took a shaky breath. _Calm down Sparrow,_ he thought. _You can't let your emotions take over like that, not if you want to be a general of the army or advisor to the queen or even have a future in the palace at all._

In the dream the open sky around him and the forest below him started to flicker. Suddenly he was in a long, winding cave. Talons of fear stabbed into his heart as he was plunged into pure darkness. His guards had disappeared and he was alone in the cave. In the distant he could hear a long, low growling noise and saw glowing red eyes that spoke of pure evil.

 _Sparrow, snap out of it, you're in a dream,_ he thought to himself. His body did not respond. _Ugh, why do you have to be so useless, you coward, you know that this is a dream, now WAKE UP!_

The thing with the glowing eyes was getting closer. As Sparrows knight vision started to kick in he could make out a dark outline of a heaping creature with odd tentacle like appendages protruding from its back.

 _All right,_ Sparrow thought. _If I can't wake myself up, then I guess I'll just have to wait the dream out._ He got into a defensive stance, claws ready and teeth bared. _Which means I'll have to fight._

The creature was nearly upon him, and he could see that it was a long, fat, slug like creature that had a large flat head and a wide mouth with razor sharp teeth that could tear apart a dragon with ease. It had short little legs that didn't look like they fit quite right and it was black with white strips running down the spine of the creepy creature. Its eyes were small and large at the same time and burned with hatred.

Sparrow recognized it from a picture in a scroll he once read – _"Rare and Deadly Creatures of the Shadow Kingdom."_ It was _Rebokrus_ , a creature of pure darkness that feed off the souls of young dragons that ventured off on their own. Its fangs held a venom potent enough to kill a dragon with one bite.

The scroll didn't mention how to fight one of these, just that it was a rare and deadly creature and that sightings of it should be reported to the queen immediately.

Sparrow took a step towards it, careful not to make a noise.

Suddenly it lunged at him, launching off its short but oddly powerful legs and opening its wide mouth to reveal hundreds of needle thin teeth.

Sparrow snapped awake with a quiet gasp and flung himself off the mound of furs that he slept on, ready to tear apart the _Rebokrus_ , and found himself facing his bedroom door.

His stance went from defensive to confused, and finally to relaxed as he realized where he was and that he was not about to die.

 _Ha, I forgot it was a dream, that's odd,_ he thought, folding his wings close to his sides.

He looked over to his south facing window to check what time it was, only to see that –to his dismay- that it was still light outside.

 _Well,_ he thought. _I guess that that means I have some time before the rest of the kingdom wakes up to go calm down and do whatever I want to do._

He took a couple of steps toward his door, then stopped and thought: _what do I want to do?_

 _I guess I could just wander the halls,_ he thought, resuming walking. _Or maybe I could go down to the kitchens and get something to eat, heck, maybe I should go hunting._ He stopped for a moment to consider this, then kept walking. _No it's too dangerous, hunting alone._ It wasn't just that, after his dream about the _Rebokrus_ he didn't want to be alone. He wouldn't admit it, but the dream had frightened him more than most of his recent nightmares.

"Sparrow, what are you doing up?" a voice asked.

Sparrow looked up to see his sister standing in the hallway in front of him.

"What are you doing up?" he copied her question.

"I couldn't sleep," she said.

"I couldn't sleep either," Sparrow said.

"Why not?" Razorclaw pried.

"Why couldn't you?"

"Because I ate some really weird nuts that came from one of the Forestwing merchants that tasted bad and gave me a load of energy," she said. "Now why couldn't you sleep? And if you don't tell me the truth I will kill you, and I will know if you lie so don't even try"

Sparrow sighed. "Because I had another nightmare," he said, lowering his gaze.

"Oh, come here," Razorclaw said in a soft voice, opening her wings.

Sparrow stepped into his sisters wings wordlessly and rested his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her wings around him in a way that she knew comforted him. They stood in silence for a moment before Razorclaw stepped back and let her wings fall to her sides.

"So what was the dream about?" Razorclaw asked.

Sparrow shuddered as he remembered the perfect moon lit night slipping away to reveal nothing but darkness and cave walls. He remembered the cold, glowing red eyes of the _Rebokrus_ and the way it crept into his vison with its creepy tentacles waving in all directions.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"It was that bad?" Razorclaw asked.

Sparrow knew what she meant. Ever since Sparrow had been old enough to talk he had told his older sister about every thought he had, every dream, every nightmare, everything that he did. The only times that he didn't was when he knew that it was something that she wouldn't want to hear or when he found it to gruesome or gross to tell her about.

"Yeah," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"Okay, I'll leave you alone," she said.

"Thanks," Sparrow said.

There was a moment of silence.

"So… What did mom want to talk to you about?" Razorclaw asked.

"Why do you want to Know?" Sparrow asked angrily. He knew that he was being unfair and that Razorclaw did nothing to deserve his anger, but he was still on edge from the nightmare and he didn't like the idea of having to talk to anyone any longer.

"Because I'm your older sister and I have a right to know what's going on in your life," Razorclaw snapped back.

"Fine, mom wanted to offer me a position as a diplomat, if you must know," Sparrow said with a sigh.

"That's great!" Razorclaws nearly shouted. "Isn't it?" she asked in a softer voice.

"Yeah, I guess," Sparrow said with a sigh. "it's just… why me? Why not someone else? Anyone else would be much better for the job, I mean, I have no social skills, I don't like being near other dragons, other dragons just like to growl at me, and I screw _everything_ up! In fact, if I was sent to the other kingdom to keep the peace, I would probably screw everything up and start a war!"

"You would not start a war! Try to have some faith in yourself for once in your life!" Razorclaw shouted.

I Can't! I just can't, okay!" Sparrow shouted back.

"Why not?" Razorclaw asked in a softer voice. "Why can't you just try do believe in yourself? Why is it so hard?"

"because… Okay, I don't know, it just… is, I guess," Sparrow said with a sigh of defeat.

Razorclaw glanced to one of the windows that lined the hall.

"It's nearly sunset, we should get back to our rooms before dragons start to wake up," Razorclaw said.

"Why?" Sparrow asked. "What does it matter if other dragons see us awake?"

"Well, it doesn't reallllllyyyyy mater, but dragons like to have the illusion that they are up before dragonets," Rzorclaw said with a shrug of her wings.

"Yeah, I guess," Sparrow said.

"Well see you later, okay?" Razorclaw said, turning toward her room.

"Okay," Sparrow said.

* * *

Sparrow went straight to the scroll rack in his room as soon as he got there. Ever since he was a small dragonet he had loved reading. Adventure and thrillers, suspense and mystery, horror and logic, all of that he loved. He loved the way the scroll folded, he loved the way they smelled, and he loved the way that his favorite scrolls fit in his talons in a way that made them feel like they belonged there all the time.

He looked to the top left corner and picked out one of his favorite scrolls. It was cased in a fine, black leather that had a golden brown outlining. pressed into the leather was the title of the scroll. It read: " _monsters and legends of the shadow kingdom, things to be wary of_ " the scroll had taught him half the stuff he knew about the legends and monsters of the kingdom, the stuff that his tutors refused to touch down on.

It bugged him that his tutors were refusing to teach him the stuff that other dragonets would be learning. Though he did not know much about the public teaching system, seeing as he only had two classes in the public school, he knew that one of the things that dragonets -dragonets that were younger than him- were being taught was the myths, legends and monsters of the kingdom. And yes, he knew that since he was a prince he had to learn how to keep track of the contents of the treasury, or how to command a battalion, since his sister would probably have him do something important like that once she became queen, but it still annoyed him.

He curled up on his sleeping spot -a little ledge that protruded from the north wall of his bedroom that was covered in wolf and deer furs- and opened his scroll. It was made from high quality parchment, some of the only paper that was strong enough for sparrow to handle without accidentally ripping, and dark green ink made up the swerving letters.

As he read about the amazing legends and awful beasts of the shadow kingdom he felt his eyelids begin to grow heavy. He tried his best to fight it, but sleep slowly took over him, he set his scroll to the side and closed his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3, Sparrow

Chapter 3

Sparrow

That midnight Sparrow stood outside of his room, waiting for a dragon to come and escort him to the courtyard.

After his little conversation with Razorclaw, and after he had fallen asleep, he and woken up just when the sun was setting to find a small square of parchment that looked like it had been ripped from a scroll -as it seemed like it still wanted to roll that way- that read "Sparrow, I am sending a messenger to your room at around 11:30 to escort you to the courtyard so that you don't show up late, I have a kingdom to run after all and I can't spend all night waiting for you to come to the meeting I set. I request that you stay in your room so that you don't lose track of time and miss the messenger whilst you wander the halls. A meal will be sent up to you so yo don't have to worry about food.

Queen Silence.

PS. Your sister might come and visit with you later so that you don't get lonely.

 _Of course,_ he had thought. Of course his mother had so little faith in him. Of course she expected him to run away. Of course she didn't trust him. So much could be expected, though. After all, Sparrow was the one who skipped council meeting that his mom wanted him to attend so the he could see how a council works in case he had to become a member once his sister was queen. He was the one who accidentally set the school on fire. He had been three at the time when this happened, and it had set all the students back a month in their work because the school had to be shut down for a month to be rebuilt. Every dragonet and their parents had been mad at him for that. He knew from the whispers that fallowed him wherever he went for monthes. 'look, it's the one who set the school on fire' and 'I heard that he did it on purposes just to cause trouble' and 'he caused my dragonet to fall behind in his school work' and 'don't know why he set it on fire, after all, it doesn't affect _him_ much, with his tutors' and 'I'm so mad at him! He set me so far behind in my work! If he wasn't The Queen's son, I would just go over there and bite him!' stuff like that all day long. He had taken to his room for day and nights after that to avoid the angry faces and hostel growls of dragons and dragonets alike.

His sister had come and talked to him though, witch was nice.

Sparrow snapped back to reality when he heard talonsteps echoing down the hall. He looked down the hall to see, to see the same dragon from yesterday, darkspark.

Darkspark caught sight of Sparrow looking at her and took a running jump towards him, landing just in front of his door.

"hello, Sparrow," she said with a small bow. "It is an honor to escort you this fine migdnight."

"Drakspark, don't." Sparrow said with a huff of annoyance. "it's not like you're escorting me to the full moon ball, your making sure I get to the courtyard on time."

"I was just trying to be pleasant," she replied in a bitter tone. "don't get you tail in knot."

"Wow," Sparrow said. "When did you get so temperamental?"

"Rrrrgh," Darkspark growled, crouching down. "I don't know! I'm just in a bad mood." She scraped her glistening, sharp claws against the soft black stone of the hallway, making small chips in the floor.

"We best be going," she said, straightening up. "Don't want to keep The Queen waiting."

"Okay," Sparrow said. "You're probably right."

They walked down the long corridor towards the courtyard, making idle small talk as they went.

They reached a large balcony that lead to the court yard. Sparrow looked over the edge of the balcony to see The Queen in her majestic glory, standing in the center of the courtyard with her wings spread wide, with her head turned to the sky. She was turning in slow circles, glancing at the balconies surrounding the courtyard. She spotted Sparrow and Darkspark, and beckoned the forward with a wave of her wing.

Sparrow and Darkspark leaped off the balcony and spread their wings, spiraling down to the courtyard in a slow glide.

As Sparrow glided down to the ground he noticed that the courtyard seemed oddly empty. The usually loud and crowded place was almost silent, and the only dragons there were the on duty guards, with their spears held high, and some servants and merchants using the many entrances and exits that the courtyard held to carry out their duties, having easy access to the many floors of the palace. The usual aristocrats that came out there to have lunch, or carry out their ever important jobs of discovering new animal characteristics, or deciding what to teach the dragonets at the school, appeared to have vacated the large courtyard in favor of their rooms in the palace.

Sparrow knew that it was due to The Queen's presence in the courtyard. It wasn't that The Queen was feared by her tribe, it was just… she was very intimating with her sharp claws that have disemboweled enemies on the battlefield and prisoners that had committed some of the most punishable crimes, so they gave her space when it looked like she was in a bad mood.

Sparrow tried to remember the last dragon that his mother had killed with her bare talons, and what they had done to deserve it. It had been when he was a year old, and he had been told by his sister not to watch, as she did not want him to see their mother kill a dragon, for fear that it would scar his fragile mind, but he had snuck out to one of the balconies that over looked the smaller courtyard that The Queen held executions and small events that not many dragons showed up to. That night, many had. The courtyard had been more crowded than it had been in years, and it had been easy for Sparrow to hide out of sight of the watchful eyes of his sister and mother.

Hiding under the wings and tails of other dragons, he watched as his mother and sister ascended the large stone platform that sat in the center of the courtyard, flanked by the two guards that had escorted the prisoner. Sparrow had recognized him immediately. It was one of the dragons that had tutored him and his sister. Sparrow remembered that the dragon only a week before had been arrested for attacking and killing two dragonets who he had been tutoring in history. Apparently the dragonets hadn't been doing what he was telling them to do, and talking back to him, and he just snapped.

Sparrow had remembered that he had to testify against the tutor. He had remembered that it was hard to find anything bad to say about this tutor because he had always been nie3 and patient with Sparrow, which was rare for a tutor. The tutors were normally as bitter and as inpatient as a hungry bear. But that one had been fun. Sparrow had remembered the look on his tutors face when he had been sentenced to death.

"Worm, state to the crowd why you are here" his mother had said, pointing her long, sharp claws at him and gesturing to the waiting dragons with her wings.

"Rrrrrr, I'm here because I did to two dragonets what everyone had wanted to do since the day that they hatched," the prisoner growled. "I'm here because I showed two dragonets discipline. I'm here because I killed those ungrateful little brats who didn't deserve to live as long as they did." The surrounding dragons fell into a shocked silence.

The Queen stepped forward and put her talons to his throat. "So you finally admit to what you did to those poor dragonets that were slaughtered in cold blood." The Queen said.

"Yes" the prisoner said. "I do admit, but I don't regret what I did."

The Queen mover her claws up to his snout. "Open your mouth," The Queen said. The prisoner obliged. The Queen reached her talon into the prisoner's mouth and pulled his long black tongue out so that it was visible to the watching dragons. She moved her other talon up to the tongue and readied her pointer claw. She moved her claw forward and cut off the prisoner's tongue. Black blood had poured out of the prisoner's still open mouth, staining the rocks below him and covering The Queens outstretched talons. The prisoner snapped shut his mouth with a noise of pained surprise and turned to glare at The Queen.

"Your voice was annoying me," said The Queen, stepping back from the mess of blood and dropping the tongue. She walked around the prisoner with panther like grace. She stepped forward and pressed her claws to the prisoners back, inflicting small puncture wounds where the tips of her claws bit into the prisoner's scales.

"You are aware what the punishment for murder is, are you not?" The Queen asked, though it was clear that it was not truly a question. Everyone knew what the punishment for murder was.

The prisoner nodded.

"Well," The Queen said, inflicting another small wound on the prisoner's long neck. "It will be different for you, seeing as you murdered two dragonets in cold blood." Another wound. "You will be tortured, every scale cut, your teeth pulled out, your ears cut off, and your wings shredded." A shredded ruff. "Do you know why it will be different for you?" The Queen asked.

The prisoner shook his head.

"It is because you committed double murder on two tiny dragonets. You're a monster, and you will die for your crimes." The Queen said. The whole ordeal had taken many hours to fill out. By the time that the prisoner was dead the courtyard was stained black with blood, and the corps was so mangled that it was unrecognizable.

After Sparrow evoked the past event that had left him shaking from wing tip to wing tip when he was a dragonet, he landed in the courtyard, making no noise as his light form set down on the fallen leaves from the large maple tree that at one point marked the palace entrance, that now marked where Sparrows grandmother had been killed in the longest battle for the throne that the Shadowwings had ever experienced.

The Shadowwings rarely had battle for the throne anymore. Most of the time the old queen stepped down and appointed one of her female dragonets – usually the oldest- as queen when she was ready to talon over the throne. The only times that one of the dragonets of The Queen challenged her was when they thought that she wasn't running the kingdom right. That was what happened with his oldest sister, Achroite, the one that he had only ever heard stories about. The one that was a legend to the entire Shadowwing tribe. The one that thought she could rule the kingdom much better than The Queen. The one that his mother had been forced to kill.

Sparrow didn't know much about his sister, seeing as she died seven years before his egg was even laid. The only thing that he did know about his deceased sister is what his living sister told him about her. Achroite had been nine when she had challenged The Queen, not even a full grown dragon. Razorclaw herself had been three years old when their elder sister had challenged their mother, and she was very close to her. She had tried to convince Achroite not to challenge their mother, but she had, and it had been a bloody mess of a challenge that had left their mother weak and in shambles, having to kill her first dragonet.

Sparrow snapped back to attention as he realized that The Queen had been talking to him as he thought of his Achroite.

"- and of course you will need to have serval guards accompany you," The Queen said.

"Um, can you repeat that?" Sparrow asked. "Sorry, I zoned out," he added with a shutter

"Okay," The Queen said. "I was saying that the journey to The Kingdom of Fire -which is the kingdom you will be going to- will be perilous, seeing as you will have to fly through the edges of Sunwing territory, and that you will be needing about a wing of guards to protect you in case there is an attack."

"Alright," Sparrow said. "What will I need to do at The Kingdom of Fire?"

"You will need to be sophisticated and impressive, you know, make the Shadowwings look good. Make us look like a strong and powerful tribe," The Queen said.

"Impressive might be difficult," Sparrow said, glanced down at his uninteresting black talons. He didn't think that he was overly impressive, his scales were dull and dry and flacking with little chips in them that made it look like he had been pecked by birds. He thought of how skinny he was and how he was unusually small for his age, a seven-year-old the size of a three-year-old. He thought about how he lacked any real muscle and was not strong enough to lift anything more than fifty pounds.

"Sparrow, I know that you think that you're not the right choice, that you aren't strong enough or that you will mess everything up, but you won't, it will be fine, trust me." Queen silence

"How do you know? How can you be so sure?" Sparrow said in a voice so loud that it was almost a shout.

"Do not raise your voice with me, Sparrow," Queen Silence said in a stern but calm voice. "As for your questions, those will all be answered shortly. Now, fallow me, I want to show you something." She lifted off with a flap of her giant wings and soared towards the east most tower.

Sparrow fallowed with a sigh.

* * *

The tower that The Queen led Sparrow was a tower that he had never once in all his years of living in the castle, been into. The top of the tower was open to the sky and there was a large opening in the center of it. Beside the opening there was a sign that read _'epically appointed guards and trusted advisors only. Any dragon without permission from The Queen or The Queen's daughter and evidence of that permission will be escorted to the dungeons immediately to wait to be seen and confirmed or denied access by The Queen or her daughter.'_

"Wow, what's down there?" Sparrow asked.

"Some of the tribes most valued treasures, and your father ashes," Queen Silence said, leaping into the opening. She led Sparrow down a long winding path to a large, black door that had several locks on it. The Queen held up her left front talon and Started rifling through the keys that always hung from a silver loop on her wrist. Sparrow watched in fascination as she separated off three different keys.

"There are five locks on that door," Sparrow pointed out. "Why are you only grabbing three keys?" he asked.

"Because only three of the locks are locked," The Queen said.

"Why are only three locked?" Sparrow asked.

"Because if a thief tried to brake in they would most likely try to unlock all of the locks, henceforth leaving at least to locked every time he or she tried to unlock the door." The Queen explained.

"Wouldn't they just unlock the locked one separately?" Sparrow asked in a confused voice.

"Well, they would have no way of telling which one was locked and which one wasn't, so they'd be trying to unlock the long enough to be caught by one of the routine guard patrols." The Queen said.

"Oh," Sparrow said. "That makes sense."

The Queen worked the key into the last lock and swung the door open, stepping inside the large room.

Sparrow stepped in beside her and let out a shocked gasp. The walls of the room were lined with large emeralds, sparkling sapphires, glistening rubies, shining amethysts and deep black onyxes. In the center of the room sat a large clay urn surrounded by lose diamonds, tourmalines, carnelians, bloodstones and countless other gems that Sparrow didn't know the names of.

"Oh, wow," Sparrow said. "This place is amazing!"

"It is, isn't it?" Queen Silence said.

"What was it that you wanted to show me?" Sparrow asked.

"Oh, nothing in particular, I guess." The Queen said, stepping toward the urn. She ran her dark talons over the top of the urn and beckoned Sparrow forward with a flick of her tail.

"Your father would be so very proud of you and your sister right now, you know that right?" The Queen said, looking down at Sparrow with sad and loving eyes.

Sparrow felt a sudden pang of sadness for the father that he had never got to meet. His father had died before he had hatched while defending one of the little villages that surrounded the castle bandit raid. The death had been quick and honorable, just as any dragon would hope that theirs was, and many dragons had mourned the loss of their highly respected king, who had commanded a large battalion in The Queens army.

"Well, we best be on our way," The Queen said, tuning around. "Still have to get you ready to leave later on."

"Yeah," Sparrow said. "That would probably be best."


End file.
